Prophet Muhammad as the example of following the Quran alone, arguing that today's scholars would condemn him as a liberal and that the Hadith and Sunnah, written 200 years after his death, created the oppressive laws now imposed on Muslim women. A second article explains God's conditional protection and how believers seek it through the contact prayers, the Quran, and prayers of refuge from Satan.
How would the prophet Muhammad fare in our
society today?? I hate to describe the prophet Muhammad with any of our
contemporary descriptions but if I have to, that is how he would be described
today, a liberal. He would be severely criticized by most of today’s
Muslim scholars. The Mullahs, Imams and religious leaders would attack
him and they may even have a fatwah (decree) that calls for his
head. He would be arrested in any of the so-called Islamic countries,
jailed and probably tortured to death. The Mullahs, scholars and religious
leaders would be disturbed by him following
the Quran alone and refusing all the innovations that filled the Hadith
and Sunnah books and added to today’s Islam 200 years after his
death. He would denounce the Hadith and Sunnah books, those who wrote
them and those who follow them. The prophet Muhammad would have found
himself a stranger among the Muslims today. He would probably feel so
much disappointment, he might tell God what he will be telling Him on
the Last Day as stated in the Quran, “My Lord,
my people have deserted this Quran” (25:30).
Was the prophet Muhammad really a liberal?
It all depends on the definition of liberal. By the standard of the Muslim
scholars, Mullahs and religious leaders of today, he would be described
as a liberal, far too liberal. But by the standard of the Quran, he would
be very conservative. He followed the book of God to the letter and when
he made mistakes he was admonished by God and corrected loudly and publicly.
After his death and for 200 years innovations were
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Prophet Muhammad
written daily in the prophet’s name. Lies were told to support
a certain sect or raise some families above others, and Islam was
rewritten in books claiming to be the teachings and actions of the
prophet. These books changed the face of Islam and created a new
religion that was not based on the book of God but rather on the
new books of Hadith and Sunnah, the books that the prophet never
authored, saw, advocated or upheld.
The Prophet and Women
Let us, for example, check the women in the prophet’s life.
The wives of Prophet Muhammad were vibrant, outspoken women. His
first wife, Khadija was a successful businesswoman in trading. She
actually was the employer of Muhammad in his early life. Aisha during
her life acted as a judge, a political activist and a warrior. Among
the other wives were a leather worker and an advocate of the downtrodden,
revered in her days as the “mother of the poor.” If
any of these women were alive today and practicing what they did
back then, they would be condemned by the contemporary Islamic leaders
and probably stoned, insulted and forced to stay home. This is not
the Islam of the prophet Muhammad but rather the Islam invented
after his death and claimed to be his.
Muhammad would look like a liberal man compared to any of
those who claim to be following the
teachings that he never advocated. In Afghanistan, Muslim women
were killed by the radical Islamic groups for the crime of working
in women’s centers or with foreign aid organizations. Women
in Iran and Afghanistan are forced to wear the veil, a cultural
dress code that is not Islamic but was made the law by these Muslims
leaders. Working Muslim women in Algeria were attacked for being
out working. Unveiled women in many of the so-called Islamic countries
are being attacked, disfigured or at least insulted for not following
the man-made law of dress code for women. Many of these Islamic
countries are advocating laws to curtail the rights of women, rights
that were guaranteed for them in Islam.
Certainly, Muhammad was a liberal man for his time and our time.
He helped out around his various households, mended his own clothes,
gave his wives the freedom to help in their community and believed
emotional and sexual satisfaction were a woman’s right. The
Islam he founded was totally based on the Quran and Quran alone.
It outlawed female infanticide, made the education of girls a sacred
duty and established a woman’s right to own and inherit property.
None of the complicated laws that restrict the women’s freedom
as we see it today in the so-called Islamic countries can be traced
back to the prophet or to the book he brought, the Quran. All the
oppressive laws are innovations
added to Islam by Mullahs, scholars,
and political or religious leaders and have nothing to do with the
true Islam.
If anything can be learned from the Islam practiced by the majority
of the Muslims today, it is not to judge the true Islam by what
the Muslims do. We need to continuously remember and remind ourselves
and our children why the messenger will complain to God on the Last
Day about his people (See 25:30). If we do, maybe we can be among
the few who will not be with the misguided majority (See 12:103
and 106).
If we are to follow the prophet Muhammad and bring Islam back
to its glorious days, we must do like the prophet Muhammad, follow
the Quran alone. Only then God’s victory can be ours in this
life and in the Hereafter.
Khadija Ismael
This (Quran) is the utterance of an honorable messenger. Not the
utterance of a poet; rarely do you believe. Nor the utterance of
a soothsayer; rarely do you take heed.
A revelation from the Lord of the universe. Had he
(Muhammad) uttered any other teachings, We would have punished him.
We would have stopped the revelations to him. None of you could
have helped him.
God’s glorious Quran tells us
about His advice and assurances to the first human being: Then
Adam received from His Lord words, whereby He redeemed him. He is
the Redeemer, Most Merciful. We said, “Go down therefrom,
all of you. When guidance comes to you from Me, those who follow
My guidance will have no fear, nor will they grieve. (2:37-38)
In all scriptures God has continued this assurance for the people.
However, God has also told us that these assurances are conditional.
In the simplest description the conditions are:
Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish,
the Christians, and the converts; anyone who 1) believes in God,
and 2) believes in the Last Day, and 3) leads a righteous life,
will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing
to fear, nor will they grieve. (2:62)
God is Most Merciful and Kind. In spite of our frequent failing
to meet His conditions—of righteousness really—He continues
to protect us and provides for all our big and small needs. Perhaps
we don’t even care to realize it, but it is happening all
the time, throughout the day. God tells us in 13:11 that shifts
(of angels) take turns, staying with each one of you—they
are in front of you and behind you. They stay with you, and guard
you in accordance with God’s commands….
…He has been fully
aware of you since He initiated you from the earth, and while you
were embryos in your mother’s bellies. Therefore, do not exalt
yourselves; He is fully aware of the righteous. (53:32)
Nothing happens to you except in accordance with
God’s will. Anyone who believes in God, He will guide his
heart. God is fully aware of all things. (64:11)
God loves us. He is protecting us, guiding us and providing for
us. He knows we can choose to have nothing to fear as long as we
earn His Grace and protection. So when God is looking after us,
shouldn’t we in turn do all we can to follow His path, and
show Him how thankful and appreciative we are of His mercies?
Sometimes I find things upset me and put me into an uncomfortable
situation, a situation where I feel unprotected. I am a human being
and weak and must understand that I have no real power (No
one possesses power except God—18:39). I must remind
myself that it is my fault regardless. So I must call upon God to
pull me out of this situation, and protect me, which I know if not
done fast, will surely make things worse.
Then, as always, God does help me, though it may take a bit of
time. I take comfort from the words… He
will also remove the rage from the believers hearts. God redeems
whomever
He wills. God is Omniscient,
Most Wise.
Throughout the day we must seek God’s Blessings. We must
find ways to please Him, whether it is through our Contact Prayers,
studying and reciting the Quran, volunteering righteous works and
so on. In return, God responds to us manifold. I
never fail to reward any worker among you for any work you do, be
you male or female—you are equal to one another. (3:195)
We must keep calling on Him and seeking His blessings and help.
There are so many prayers God has worded in the Quran that we can
use. The Key (Fatehah) is such a beautiful, all encompassing
prayer recited alone or together with other believers.
As we believers know, it is Satan who wants to weaken the protection
we receive from God. Therefore he will plague our minds with evil
thoughts or desires. There is a saying, “an empty mind is
the devil’s workshop.” God knows this, and has mercifully
planned how we can counter it. He has put in the Quran, verses like
23:97-98 and 16:98. Say, “My Lord, I seek
refuge in You from the whispers of the devils. And I seek refuge
in You, My Lord, lest they come near me.”
When you read the Quran, you shall seek refuge in
God, from Satan the rejected.
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Enjoying God’s Protection
There are also Suras 113 & 114:
Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of daybreak, from
the evils among His creations, from the evils of the darkness as it falls,
from the evils of the trouble makers, from the evils of the envious when
they envy.” Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of the
people, the King of the people,
the God of the people, from the evils of sneaky whisperers, who whisper
into the chest of people, be they of the jinns or the people.”
God gives us sufficient signs and warnings whilst protecting us daily.
He loves us, showers His blessings on us, answers our prayers, sees to
our needs and difficulties throughout the day. This is His assurance.
So
in return, why should we not take more care
to earn His grace and protection?
When My servants ask you about Me, I am always near. I
answer their prayers when they pray to Me. The people shall respond to
Me and believe in Me in order to be guided. (2:186)
Hena Rahimtulla, Mumbai, India.
About this work
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International Community of Submitters
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International Community of Submitters / Masjid Tucson